British
Secretary of the Environment Hilary Benn announced on January 5
long-term agricultural policies to achieve both food security and
sustainable farming practices that can mitigate the effects of climate
change.

Hilary Benn: Agriculture needs to be at the heart of our efforts to adapt to a changing climate.”Hilary Benn:
The soil, the water, the air, the plants, the forests are the very
foundation on which our food and therefore our existence as human beings
depends. So in meeting demand today, we must ensure that we do not
destroy our ability to feed ourselves tomorrow. It’s not about either
environmental sustainability or production, it has to be both.

The
plan encourages consumers to eat less red meat and dairy so as to
reduce the amount of methane produced by cows, and consume more
locally-sourced seasonal fruit and vegetables. Classes will be
offered to teach people how to cook with fresh vegetables. Green labels
on food will also display the 'carbon footprint' in manufacturing and
transporting products. Secretary Benn highlighted the importance of
consumer involvement in achieving a sustainable food system during every
phase.

For example, every household would collect food waste to
be composted, and more people would grow fruits and vegetables, with
gardens also being planted at schools and hospitals along with courses
to teach crop growing skills.

Your Excellency and United Kingdom,
we applaud your vision for a sustainable future by making sound food
choices. May many other leaders be similarly inspired to bring greater
health to fellow citizens and the planet. Supreme Master Ching Hai has
frequently spoken of the need for governments to implement wiser,
plant-based food policies to reduce global warming, as in an interview
published in the September 2009 edition of the British Parliament's The
House Magazine.

Supreme Master Ching Hai:
The government can support organic vegan farming through subsidies.
They can also redirect the funds away from the meat industries and
instead toward encouraging citizens to plant, to buy and to choose
organic vegan food.

And when they do, we will soon have a lot of
healthy, happy, productive people, a restored green environment, and
minimum climate mitigation costs – something all governments can look
forward to and gain the enthusiastic support of all citizens.

If
humans switch to the vegan diet, the Earth will begin cooling
immediately and many of these dilemmas can even be reversed. So please,
be veg and do good, to save the planet and all the beings on it,
including you and me.